Say CHEESE!

I mean really?

So, I think social media has made me more anxious than I already am( if that's even humanly possible). I look around on FB, Pinterest & blogs and see peoples holidays PERFECT. Their kids not only saw Santa in matching monogrammed outfits, but they also hosted holiday parties, went on a vacation, got their kids ridiculous amounts of expensive toys and made handmade Christmas presents for their kids teachers. I mean REALLY?? In reality holidays around here, and I expect for a lot of people is survival. Bryan works 14+ hours 6 days a week during December... Leaving me alone with two hooligans. We tried to be generous with our family gifts and so I neither had the money nor energy to make gifts for my kids teachers or my friends. We not only didn't host a party, but didn't make it to the ones we were invited to. Our house looks like Toys R Us threw up. We went to the hospital to see both of our new nieces, but only lasted till meltdowns began.

Maybe if i didn't check social media i wouldn't feel like a Christmas failure. Unfortunately its human nature, especially for women, to compare. But I do have a choice and I will chose to see the success of this holiday

1) we are all still alive and somewhat clean
2) Ethan can pick out and say baby jesus and mama Mary in the nativity
3) we have a new appreciation for how hard daddy works to provide for us
4) we may not have made the parties, but we spent the time bonding as a family
5) we didn't see santa, but we spent time laughing and screaming at the choochoos at the mall instead

I, Sarah, am a horrible comparer. It gets me in trouble a lot. But God asks to have a thankful heart. And a thankful heart turns into a happy heart. And boy do i have loads to be thankful for!!!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Chaos.. I mean Christmas

It's the holidays around here and I love/hate it. I love that we are celebrating the birth of Christ, I love the joy on the kids faces, I love Santa and Christmas trees.. but I could do with out the stress and chaos for sure. Bryan and I are working to take a day at a time and taking all the oppurtunities we can to enjoy the moment.

 

This year Ethan is old enough to enjoy the wonder of Northpark this winter. The trains at Northpark was PERFECT for a little boy that loves ChooChoos. He runs around like a little crazy person pointing and screaming "CHOO CHOO CHOO CHOO CHOO!" Mom came with us one time and the playground went again. He gets just as excited no matter how many times he goes. I hope always get this excited abotu the little things.

 

Trains with Moke

 

Northpark also has Storytime with Santa, Grinch and a new addition of the puppet show. It's so cute and perfect for toddlers. It lasts about 5 minutes and the kids can sit the stroller and relax. Dana, Tara, Norma Lisa and the kiddos went up today. It certainly was an event to get the toddlers and babies to behave. I like Carter trying to get out of the stroller. 

 Tyler and Ethan BOTH love the tree. I wasn't going to put one up this year thinking that it was just going to be torn down (which it has been).. but the tree is small and falling apart so I don't care. We decided not to put up the ornaments (which is a great idea since Ethan likes to pull the tree down), so I made paperchains and Ethan helped me to put them up. Then we strung them from the ceiling of the dining room.

 

 It's been nice outside so we are out in the yard- A LOT! Ethan is not fan of the hat or the jacket, but now he knows when he puts them on that he gets to go "side."

 

We have loved finding a church we love, Christ Church Plano. But this past Sunday, we needed some family time with all 4 of us. So we skipped church and headed to Pancake house- where Ethan ate way more than Bryan or myself. =) Both boys love eating with us... they love the treat of chocolate milk out of a straw and placemats with Mickey Mouse on them. It's the little things you know

 

 

Now that Tyler is working on sitting up we have gotten a lot of the toys out and SOMEONE is getting a "tad" jealous and yelling "MINE! a lot.. oh lovely.

I dont mean to brag- but SERIOUSLY! I have the worlds cutest children. SERIOUSLY!!! We had a special treat of eating lunch with the Bloems and Bridgette loved playing with the "baby" and Tyler loved her. PeekaBoo has never been so fun.

It continues to dawn on me that Tyler is my last baby. There are days when I want both of my boys to be "big" and be able to talk and take care of themselves. But then I stop and realize it wont be too long from now when neither of the boys will want me to rock them to sleep, snuggle on the couch, or help them out of bed.. so I am soaking in every second.

My baby

I am loving every second of Tyler. Just knowing that he is my last baby reminds me to soak in every moment. He is so fun to watch too. T is my little funny face- because honestly have you seen this face? He is ridiculously expressive.

 

He has started to roll over on the bed... and thinks he is so funny when he starts to move. He HATES bathtime and could do without the car too. Which would be fine if those weren't Ethan's favorite things. They are certainly each their own creatures.

 

 

On our evening walks he has moved to the "big boy" seat and Ethan thinks it's too funny. He laughs and points saying "TT!!TT!!"

 

To sooth himself to sleep he sucks on his fingers and would much rather sleep with me or on me than in his crib but he is sleeping through the night in his own room. There are certainly nights however that I linger in holding him and SLOWLY put him back in bed.

He is already doing things that I am not ready for- playing with his toys, recognizing voices and faces, talking, laughing, moving, reaching to hold his own bottle- SLOW DOWN TIME PLEASE!!!

 

WELCOME FALL

God has brought us another wonderful Fall. Thank goodness. I am so done with the heat. The trees in our backyard actually turn colors other than green for at least THREE DAYS before all the leaves fall off. And when they do its time for major fun!! Mommy gets out the rake and Ethan goes to town jumping and throwing all the leaves. Hours, literally, of fun!

Ethan loves our slide and calls it the "Wee" since he says "WEEEE" all the way down. He has learned to climb WAY too early (he first started when I was bedrest- lovely!). And as you can see he doesnt care who is on the slide- he just slides down and laughs the whole time.

Tyler is such a chill baby- UNTIL HE ISN'T. He certainly knows what he wants and want it EXACTLY when he wants it. However, mommy and daddy still haven't figured out exactly what it is he wants and sometimes it is a long guessing game. But this precious boy is certainly worth every second.

Halloween

 

In case I haven't said it before I LOVE Halloween. And I am praying that my boys find the love that I have. This year they are still too young to get it- or enjoy things like face paint. With Ethan hating to wear hats and HATING facepaint I was good to get a tshirt on him. =)

 

I had a friend pick up a Baylor football shirt from the bookstore and dressed Tyler up as a football. They were too cute. On the day of Halloween the boys were INSANE and Bryan was at work- but I was determined to do some sort of celebration. Luckily my sister  came over to help get the boys ready and we headed to my grandmas and my parents house. That was all they could handle!

 

 

 

This year we got to go to our first Trunk or Treat- which I still think is NOT AS FUN as trick or treating. But Ethan LOVED riding the pony and seeing all the costumes. But of course we spent most of the time on the playground since his class isn't allowed on the big playground during school.

 

Holidays are important to me- a day to set apart to really celebrate. I pray the boys find as much joy in these days as I do.

 

In the meantime I am trying to find something to celebrate EVERYDAY! Little victories, new words, learning to feed ourselves with a spoon, good naptimes... everyday a celebration!

asdfa

My favorite

Halloween is my favorite holiday. It's PERFECT- full of candy, dress up and no family drama. NOTHING BETTER!! Oh yes and PUMPKINS! LOADS OF PUMPKINS! Donna and I took the boys to the Arboretum for some fall pictures. I wanted to get pictures of BOTH of them, however Tyler napped the entire time, so it ended up being a morning of chasing a toddler around and begging him to sit still long enough to take his picture. =) What a fun day.

 

Newborn Pictures

 

Life is funny sometimes- okay- a lot of time. God has plans for all of us that are never MY plans. Newborn pictures are super important and special to me, and so when our photographer got the flu and couldn't take the pictures I was devastated. So, I asked around, PANICKED, and then my mom reminded me that our sweet friend Donna takes amazing pictures of the boys, and we should ask her.

WHAT A BLESSING! It was the best day. We headed out to her house to play, take pictures, and spend time with one of our favorite couples. Here are some of my favorites (since I cant put up all 400 of them. =)

sweet boy

"someone hold me..." "someone let me go!"

 

Tyler with his life verse... so sweet

 

I love both the posed and the natural look. This time is going to go by WAY TOO FAST. There are days already when Ethan pulls his hand away from me wanting to do something BY MYSELF and I realize how quickly its going to be when he can do EVERYTHING by himself.

caught red handed

love this face... always so serious

 As I watch the time slip away I have been spending more time on my knees in prayer. Often times, however, I dont have the right words or words at all when I pray. I just picture my boys and all I can ask is that God soften their hearts and give them souls that LONG after Him. At the end of the day I just want me boys to be madly in love with God.

if i could i would kiss on him all day

I am not always going to be there to kiss the boo boos away... and if their hearts long after  Christ than they will find hope and comfort in a loving and gracious father.

i hope they still little as long possible!

you want to kiss this face too dont you?

We are blessed- beyond words. On days when both are crying or screaming (or both) and my back hurts, and I still have work to do, and I havent eaten all day, I stop and remind myself what GIFTS these 2 are. They are simply on loan to me.. and I take that responsibly seriously and hope that God will continue to direct our hearts as parents so that our boys will walk with us as try to seek out God.